Re:Build Fikst was hired to create a device that would preserve and transport biological samples from a user’s home to NextGen Jane’s lab. We supported them through the entire process from initial concepts and in-house prototyping to detailed design and manufacturing. Our team even built and delivered a small-scale production line to their lab and trained their staff on how to use it.
Historically, women’s health research has been significantly underfunded, leaving major gaps in our understanding of female biology. NextGen Jane is tackling this by focusing on female-dominant diseases, analyzing molecular signatures from menstrual effluence collected via tampons. This innovative approach could lead to breakthroughs in understanding periods, pregnancy, menopause, ovarian cancer, and more. Their key hurdle? Ensuring biological sample integrity during transit from users’ homes to their lab—a far more complex process than standard shipping.
To overcome this, our mechanical engineering team rapidly prototyped various concepts based on NextGen Jane’s input. We ultimately designed a device ready for manufacturing, utilizing custom injection-molded and die-cut parts to ensure sample integrity during transit. Beyond the design, Re:Build Fikst established a complete small-scale manufacturing line, including assembly equipment, detailed build instructions, and rigorous quality control procedures tailored specifically to NextGen Jane’s system. This entire production line was then set up directly at NextGen Jane’s lab in Oakland, CA, with Re:Build Fikst providing the necessary training to empower their team to independently produce thousands of sample collection devices annually, thereby supporting their crucial research and commercialization efforts.
Our partnership successfully delivered a robust and scalable solution, directly addressing NextGen Jane’s critical logistical challenge. We provided a reliable and safe method for biological sample transportation, ensuring the integrity of collected samples from users’ homes to NextGen Jane’s lab, which is fundamental for accurate research. This collaboration also established a scalable in-house manufacturing process, empowering NextGen Jane to independently produce the necessary volume of collection devices for their current research.
Over the last eight years, Re:Build Fikst has felt like an extension of our team. They were with us from the first usable prototype through scaling for clinical studies, planning experiments with us, troubleshooting failures, and training our team to bring assembly in-house.
The rigor and care they brought shaped not only the product we have today but the way we build going forward.
— Stephen Gire, Chief Scientific Officer, NextGen Jane
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